As I was watching the Browns came away with a 27-20 win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, I had a thought. The Bengals, who are now 1-9, have not had a winning season since 1990. In other words, they haven’t had a winning season since the other Bush was in the White House, “Cheers” dominated TV ratings, and Vanilla Ice could walk around in public without a diguise.
Now, this is not going to be a column that makes fun of Cincinnati’s loveable loser. As a fan of Cleveland sports, I have a certain amount of sympathy for fans down south. Sure, the Bengals’ run of non-winning seasons is sad, but the Cleveland Indians went over 40 years without making the playoffs. That makes the Bengals’ run of mediocrity look like a three-hour drive from Cleveland to Dayton.
As much as we love to talk about how bad the Bengals are, almost every major city has a team they can relate to the Bengals.
The Packers may be a dominant playoff team, but just a few miles away, Bud Selig owns a team without a playoff appearance since 1982 — the Brewers. Los Angeles loves the Lakers, but the Clippers, until recent success, were the NBA’s doormat for the better part of a decade. It should also not be forgotten that L.A lost not one, but two football teams in one offseason with one of the reasons being a lack of fan support.
ESPN commentators love to joke about the Bengals from their northeast studios, but the team was in a Super Bowl in 1988, losing only in the final minute to Joe Montana and the 49ers. Hey, when was the last time the Jets were in the Super Bowl?
Yes, the Bengals are a shadow of the team that used to battle for the AFC Central title in the 1980s with players like Boomer Esiason, Chris Collinsworth and James Francis. Yet no matter how bad things are for the franchise in 2002, the current NFL economic system allows for quick improvement. The NFL’s last three superbowl champions were teams that didn’t make the playoffs the season before. The Rams of 1999 and the Patriots of 2001 were teams that found themselves way below the .500 mark. Could the same thing happen to the Bengals?
Well, no.
Not until Mike Brown, owner of the team, gives up control of football operations. It’s no coincidence that the Bengals slide began when Brown took over the team from his father, Paul Brown. Paul was a football genius, and like so many heirs to the throne, Brown must have thought he inherited his father’s talent. Actually, Brown should not be criticized too harshly. He did manage to convince the people of Cincinnati to build him a beautiful new stadium, despite persistant losing.
Still, the Bengals will not succeed until they have a football expert running the show. Dave Shula, Bruce Coslett, and Dick Lebeau have all been unable to correct things, so it is difficult to blame the coaching.
Still, even this Bengals team has some talent. Corey Dillon, Justin Smith and Takeo Spikes are impact players who could be around for a long time. If a new general manager could add some talent to those core players, Cincinnati could become a team to watch.
And if that happens, watch as Bengals bandwagon gets full really quickly with reporters.
